Fact Check: Viral images claiming to show recent IT raid on CM Siddaramaiah’s aide in Karnataka is PARTLY FALSE
The Income Tax department in Karnataka conducted raids on several people in October 2023 and recovered more than Rs 50 crore cash
ITRaidKarnataka
The Income Tax department in Karnataka conducted raids on several people in October 2023 and recovered more than Rs 50 crore cash during the raids. According to reports, people on whom the raids were conducted include a contractor, his son, a gym instructor and an architect. The IT department alleged that some of these people were involved in tax evasion and money laundering.
After the news of this seizure of large amounts of cash went viral, an image showing people sitting in front of bundles of cash and counting it went viral on the internet with the claim that it shows the recent IT raid on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s supporters.
A Facebook user shared the viral image with the caption
“इनकम टैक्स के छापे में मिले 9
When translated, it claims “94 crore cash and jewellery worth 8 crore found in income tax raid! The Income Tax Department has seized around Rs 94 crore in cash in the ongoing raid on contractors and real estate developers at more than 55 locations in Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh! Along with 8 crore rupees, gold and diamond jewellery and 30 luxury watches have also been recovered! Similarly, the Anonymous Property Unit of the Income Tax department in UP has taken major action and dismissed 11 properties which belonged to Dalits !!”
Many users combined another image with the viral image and shared the IT raid news on the social media. The caption on the images in Hindi is “कर्नाटक में आईटी छापे में 42
When translated, it claims “Rs 42 crore cash found during IT raid at the residence of Karnataka contractor Ambikapati, who made allegations of 40% commission on the previous BJP government of Karnataka. Sources say that the money was being routed to Hyderabad for the upcoming Telangana elections. Ambikapati's wife was a councillor and close to a #कांग्रेस MLA.”
The viral image was also shared by news publication like Aaj Tak.
Fact Check:
The claim is PARTLY FALSE.
The viral image is an old one and is from the year 2021 and shows the recovery of cash when the Income Tax officials raided the house of a perfume trader in Kanpur.
Here is the Image -1
When we searched both the images shared on social media using Google reverse image search, we found that the viral image is from the year 2021.
According to a Zee News article that was published on December 24, 2021, the image showed the income tax department raid on the house of Piyush Jain, a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav and a perfume trader in Kanpur.
According to an article in Hindustan Times, tax raids on the premises linked to Piyush Jain, a Kanpur-based perfume businessman yielded more than Rs 150 crore in cash. Officials of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) at Jain’s house in Anandpuri said 57 big tin boxes were purchased to keep the cash and a container truck was hired for its transportation amid tight security.
According to a video report published by timesnownews.com, Uttar Pradesh businessman Piyush Jain was arrested after 72 hours of tax raid. Around Rs.250 crore was seized from the businessman. The sleuths took the help of five machines to count the sheer amount of notes recovered from a perfume trader in Kanpur following a raid by a joint team of the Income Tax department and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). According to the officials, the transporter reportedly would generate multiple fake GST invoices in the name of non-existent firms, all below Rs 50,000 for one full truckload, to avoid generating e-way bills while moving the goods.
Image -2
When searching for other images published on social media along with the viral one, we found that the image was indeed related to the recent IT raid in Karnataka.
Therefore, the claim is PARTLY FALSE as one of the images shared is an old one. The image (Image -1) belongs to the year 2021 when IT officials raided a businessman’s house in Kanpur.